Percussion News

The FFCC is offering special pricing on advanced purchase tickets for our Championships event at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center April 1 – 3, 2016!

You can combine two, three, and even all four events for maximum savings. These prices will only be available until March 28, 2016and will only be available online.

None of these prices will be honored at the event. Don’t miss this savings opportunity. Find out full information about tickets and other FFCC Championships information by clicking on the “Championships Banner” on the FFCC Home Page.

As FFCC Championships are approaching, the esteemed and respected individuals who will adjudicate the event have been announced. These judges represent years of experience and knowledge that we are fortunate to have as a part of our Championships event. Here is this year’s FFCC Championships panel and tentative contest start times:

This is a topic that I have struggled with much of my teaching career. I am without a doubt, hands down the picture in the dictionary of a perfectionist. I struggled with it growing up and I have struggled with it as an adult. At my job, at work, as a parent, as a wife, as a friend, and most certainly as a color guard instructor; I have struggled. I use the word “struggle,” because being a perfectionist is an internal struggle and it impacts everyone around you. Over the years, I’ve learned to contain it and harness the feeling of “it’s not good enough and that’s o.k.” There’s a balance though, and finding a balance of not good enough vs. it needs more work, is where I have done my most growth as a youth coach.

It’s March and the end of the tunnel is within reach and in the sights of all involved, but there’s a big job to do and to me, the hardest part of the season is upon us. This is where we as staff members must make some choices. Do we continue down the path we are on and just clean? Do we take out that one scary and not so successful moment? Do we water? This is the time to make choices and the choice is this. What is it that will make the kids feel most successful in the end and what design and cleaning decisions will get you the biggest bang for your buck?

The biggest question is this, however. How do you maintain high expectations, without compromising the original intentions of the program? Additionally, how do you do it without destroying the kids and program in the process? I believe March is what makes or breaks a program and I’m not just talking about the current season. I’ll be honest with you. There are moments in my past as an instructor that I regret how I responded to bad performances at a show or regional. I let the idea that this one particular moment we had been working on for a week get to me, when that one moment wasn’t at the success level of my expectations. As a young instructor and even as an old instructor, the balance in my brain is constantly fighting itself. I watch the guard from the top and have to divorce myself from the drop on the 50 or sabre feature that missed its mark in clarity, and find what’s right…while finding what we need to work most on. The clock is ticking and it’s ticking fast. This is the time of year we triage. What takes precedence and what part is bleeding the most?

If you don’t have a staff to bounce ideas off of after a show, then you have a much harder road ahead of you and I know some of you are out there. Most of us though, have someone on staff we can ask the question of, “What did you think?” If you don’t ask that question of someone else and get the perspective of someone else, then your brain will start to play tricks on you. What you saw as a catastrophe, might just be a rough moment. What you saw as great, could very well be what is denial. You need to talk to people and you need to ask. You need to listen to your audio files. Remember, the judges don’t always look where you do and they don’t know what you worked on the night before. Also remember, that the judges want you to be successful. They are not your enemy and only want the best so listen to them as a trusted consultant. If you are in it alone, then find someone…a trusted parent of the program,…a friend…a colleague and ask them. “What did you think?”

The next question you need to ask is this. “Did we set the right goals and do we need to readjust those goals?” Going forth into March without assessing your goals is foolish. Going forth into March without assessing the minds of the performers and staff is also foolish. Where are the kids at? What will make them successful? How far should I push them? What will break them? Should I try to break them? Should I coddle them?

Let me be clear about something, however. Sometimes performers need the tough love at this point of the season and it is necessary. Sometimes they need just love. I can’t answer the question for you, because this is where being a good coach comes into play. You need to know your kids and play to the place where their minds are at. Sometimes they get it into their heads that THEY are not good enough and their minds begin to play tricks on them. This is where the drops are beginning to come from. This is where we ask ourselves as staff members, “What do I do with the soloist that has everything riding on their shoulders to open the show with the sabre quad and she has now begun to drop it consistently?” I can’t say I always know the answer. I get just as perplexed as the rest of you, but what I try to do is think, “What would have worked for me?” I was a perfectionist and I never truly felt good about myself as a performer. I never felt the show was good enough. I missed a hand placement, a count or God forbid I dropped. When I use to tech in my early years, I missed so many great moments with my programs, because someone missed a hand placement, a count, or God forbid a drop. I missed the smiles or the great recoveries. I missed the energy or the kid in the back who finally caught her flag toss.

So this is my suggestion. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good. Don’t! Find the good and assess the problems. Gage the energy of the performers as they come off the floor. Listen to audience reaction. Want to know a trick? After the show and after you have watched the show several times on video AND listened to your audio files; go back and play the video with head phones in your ear, close your eyes, and just listen to the crowd. Are they reacting the way you want? Many times, the audience will tell you what you need to fix. I watch my video’s several times. The following system is the order I do it in.

Listen to the audio files…take notes

Watch the video for pure reaction

Watch the video for cleaning purposes…take notes

Watch the video for cleaning purposes…take notes

Watch the video for cleaning purposes…take notes

Watch the video to see where it is I’m irritated with the design (because well…it isn’t a good week until I’ve made a designer angry at least once)

Listen for crowd reaction

Send the video to someone else…listen to feedback without defense

Make a schedule that goes all the way to championships

It’s amazing when you follow my system, that you will start to see more good than not. You will start to see that the show wasn’t perfect and it never will be. Your show will never be perfect. It won’t be perfect at any show, at any time, at any point in the season. This does not mean that you don’t keep pushing for the perfect catch and the perfect flag statement. It doesn’t mean you don’t keep your expectations high. It means that you keep assessing and cleaning and assessing and cleaning, but you never let perfection become the enemy of good. You assess and you clean all the way until the last moment in the last show at warm up and when it’s over, you celebrate the kids, your parents and your staff. You celebrate the good and then you assess for next season, but don’t let that drop in the last show of the year, be your enemy that carries your program into summer.

Keep your expectations high and the kids will rise to the challenge. They want to rise to the challenge. When it’s all said and done I want you to remember this. They are harder on themselves then you could ever be. As a perfectionist myself, no instructor was ever harder on me than I was on myself and I had some tough ones. I had Ping, David Baker, and Jeff Wroblewski. Great instructors all of them, but none of them were tougher on me than me. Let that guide you through March.

“Colorguard is still about Fun” – The Fleming Contest has a Community Feel

The Fleming Island contest was held in Orange Park, FL on Saturday March 5th. There was a very familiar air to the contest. Mike Higbe, Director of Fleming Island reached out to past alumni to volunteer for the event. These alumni, along with Fleming parents, and boosters helped run the event. Everyone who attended, could feel the sense of familiarity and that everyone at the contest really got “It”.

Zachary Morgan, Director of Olympia High School mentioned: ” I always choose to come to the Fleming Show because, the people working the event are always helpful and the audience is always energetic. It’s nice to remember that colorguard is still about fun.”

Mr. Adams, the Assistant Band Director at Fleming helped put together the contest, and also teaches several ensembles:

"It was exciting to see positive growth from the competing ensembles. From color guards to percussion units, and the addition of winds groups, the competition offered a variety of performance ensembles which added to the dynamic qualities of the show day."
With everyone working towards their seeding at Championships. The competitive realm for the contest proved to be entertaining:

The B Class was the largest class of the day. There were 12 competing ensembles from all over the Northern part of the circuit. Edging out the competition was Oakleaf High School with a score of 72.76.

The AAA class was overwhelmingly close! The top 4 Ensembles of the contest: Fletcher, Bartram Trail JV, Nease JV, and Flagler Palm Coast all within 0.17 of each other. It will be nice to see when these B Class Units meet up again.

Newsome High School continues on their path to an undefeated season with a score of 80.32. What’s interesting about this- is that this ensemble went on first out of 9 competitive A Class Colorguards. Which further affirms the fact that judges compare the class continuously and do not lock their scores. Going on first is not the kiss of death.

Fleming Percussion jammed out to their home show crowd!

With the addition of winds to the Circuit this year- Project Arts Winds made an appearance at a circuit show. Arjuna Myles, Director of Project Arts stated:

“This show was a fantastic experience for my ensemble. It was almost like performing for a community event in our own town. With the event being for guard, winds, and percussion it really provided an opportunity for the many people we know around the state to support us as they were able to perform as well as see us. This competition is by far my favorite show of the season so far. We look forward to performing hear again next year.”

From start to finish of the contest: The feeling of familiarity and community was contagious.

The Seminole Visual Spectacular began as a small FFCC show in 1991. At the time, the gym at Seminole High School was being remodeled. So our first show was held at Seminole Middle School. We had bleachers built on the level area behind the stands to give the judges a higher vantage point….with no back stands for the performing guards. Somehow, the parents and Contest Coordinator Jim Taylor made it work. It was the first time for a very green announcer named Alan Smith to play “DJ” at a guard show…using just a cassette player. CDs would not come around for a couple more years.

We made the first year at Seminole Middle work thinking that the newly renovated high school gym would be great the next year. Anyone who has been to the Seminole show in the last 25 years has seen the results of that renovation. Yes, the gym was actually smaller before the process began. Knowing that we would never have a great facility, we tried to concentrate on the experience for the guards, instructors and judges. The Seminole parents always try to run a first class show so the experience is worth the coming to one of the smallest gyms in the circuit. If nothing else, you will be fed very well.

That gym has seen some of Winter Guard’s finest performing groups including Seminole World, Tarpon Springs, Flannigan, USF, The Knights, The Company, Shakti Performance Company and Infinity Percussion…just to name a few.

We refer to Seminole Visual as “smallest show venue with the biggest heart”. We always appreciate the support of the ensembles and the FFCC.

Today (Contributed by Jen Karp, FFCC Judge):

It was a beautiful sunny day for an FFCC show on the west coast. Seminole
HS was the host and prov
ed why it’s one of the oldest existing contest
locations in the circuit!

As we entered the 7th weekend of the season, teams have been working
diligently to fine tune and put their finishing touches on their programs
before the final push to Championships in Daytona Beach. For a lot of
groups, this was their last performance before the big show and they
certainly did not disappoint!

The Cadet classes started off the day with performances by middle school
guards from Rushe, Seminole, Liberty and Northside Christian. Rushe MS took
home first in the Cadet Novice class while Seminole MS also won in the
Cadet class.

Class B proved to be one of the most competitive classes of the day. Lake Nona HS JV barely edged out Bloomingdale HS JV for their first win of the season followed by the beautiful performers of Sarasota HS in 3rd.
In AAA, PR Wharton HS took home the top honors with Northside Christian and
Plant City HS in 2nd and 3rd places. In this class, especially, members are
showing more performance qualities and training as the season progresses.

Weeki Wachee HS faced their first performance in the AA class after being
promoted a few weekends ago and proved they were ready for the challenge!
The ladies and gentlemen of Weeki Wachee took the floor and proved to
everyone that they belonged in the class by winning with a score of 71.65.
Tarpon Springs MS and JW Mitchell were also successful in claiming the 2nd
and 3rd place trophies respectively.

Scholastic A groups continued to provide standout performances and show the
hard work they have been accomplishing at their weekly rehearsals. After
making finals at the Tampa Regional recently, Sunlake HS came out as the
winner of the class followed closely by Bloomingdale HS and Braden River
HS. The growth in the entire SA class continues to wow audiences alike and
impress the judges.

Tampa Independent was the only independent unit to perform but definitely
came to entertain with their show, Creatures of the Night. After a long day
in hosting a wonderful contest for all, the 15 beautiful ladies of Seminole
HS showed audience members, family and friends their 2016 Scholastic World
performance, Falling Down Stairs.
It’s incredible to think with only a few weekends left of the regular
season what these groups and others will bring to Daytona for FFCC
Championship!